


Unafraid of Toil

by 27dragons



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Crushes, Getting Together, Hogwarts House Sorting, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, hufflepuff!Bucky Barnes, hufflepuff!Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29591022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons
Summary: Summary: Bucky hadn’t realized there would be one of the Old Families in his year at Hogwarts. At least he’s going to be sorted into Gryffindor with Steve and won’t have to deal with the arrogant brat.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 71
Kudos: 470
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Both chapters of this story contain fills for the Tony Stark Bingo. See the chapter end notes for the full headers.

“Stevie,” Bucky whispered as they got off the train. “Look over there -- I think that kid might be almost as small as you!”

Steve scowled at Bucky before turning to look. “Oh, owlfeathers!” he cursed, turning back quickly. “That’s a _Stark_. I didn’t know we were gonna have one of _them_ in our class.”

“Stark, you mean like that guy with the flying car?” Bucky took another look at the tiny boy as they were herded toward the boats. “What’s wrong with ‘em?”

“They’re one of the _old_ families,” Steve said. “Loads of money. They basically think they can buy anything -- and anyone -- they want.” He scowled down at his threadbare secondhand robes.

“Well, that’s all right then,” Bucky decided. “He’ll be a Slytherin, prob’ly -- all those old families are, right? -- an’ you and me, we’re gonna be in Gryffindor. So we probably won’t have to deal with him too much.”

“I guess.” Steve still purposefully steered them wide of the boat the Stark was climbing into.

The first big shock of the evening was when Bucky sorted into Hufflepuff. He glanced back over his shoulder at Steve as he shuffled over to the ‘puff table. Steve looked as stunned as Bucky felt. They’d known each other for years and years, and Steve had insisted right from the beginning that they’d be in Gryffindor together.

Bucky chewed his lip as the sorting continued down through the alphabet and dared to hope. Maybe... maybe Steve would be a Hufflepuff, too?

Of course, Steve wasn’t a Hufflepuff. The hat had barely brushed his hair before it announced _Gryffindor!_ in ringing tones.

And that made sense; Stevie was the bravest guy Bucky knew. It was just gonna be hard, for them not to be together. Maybe they’d have a doubled class together, at least. 

The second shock came when _Stark, Anthony_ was called forward. The hat perched on the small boy’s head for a rather shockingly long time before finally sending him -- not to Slytherin to hobnob with the other old families, or even to Ravenclaw, which would’ve been Bucky’s next guess, given what he knew of the Starks’ inventiveness -- but to Hufflepuff.

Bucky was going to end up sharing a dorm with the Stark kid. So much for avoiding him.

By the time the feast was over, Bucky didn’t think he’d heard Stark say more than half a dozen words. For that matter, he didn’t think Stark had eaten more than two bites of the dinner.

“What’s wrong,” Bucky wondered, “meal not up to your standard?”

Stark glanced up and his eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty. For an instant, Bucky was ashamed of the taunt -- and then Stark’s eyes shuttered and his face went hard, every bit as cold and haughty as Bucky had imagined it would be. “So much for the vaunted Hufflepuff loyalty,” he sneered.

“You ain’t done anything worth bein’ loyal _for_ , yet,” Bucky pointed out.

Stark didn’t answer, just turned away, hunching over his barely-touched plate as if the answers to the universe might be encoded in a spoonful of greens.

An hour later, when they’d learned the route to their Common Room and the password for getting past the sentry statue, the four new Hufflepuffs were shown to the dorm room that they’d all be sharing for the next seven years, most likely.

There were two sets of bunkbeds bracketing the window that looked out onto the grounds -- Bucky thought he could see the towers that ringed the Quidditch pitch -- opposite a large fireplace. There was a games table near the fireplace, already set up for a chess match, and several squashy-looking beanbags. Two tall bookshelves completed the room, both nearly empty -- someplace for them to put their things, Bucky supposed.

It looked like quite the cozy room, actually. Bucky just wished that one of his roommates were Steve.

He swallowed down the lump of missing Steve and caught hold of the rungs leading up to the top of a bunk. “I’ll take this one,” he said. “I like to be up high.”

“I call the other top!” Parker said quickly. He swarmed up the other ladder quickly, as if to stake his claim.

Hogan, a solid, stocky boy, just shrugged. “Suits me,” he said. He looked over at Stark. “You care which one is yours?”

Stark looked around the room, measuring something only he could see, apparently. Comparing the room unfavorably to his no-doubt palatial space at home, maybe. Casting a wary glance up at Bucky, he ducked into the bunk below Bucky’s. “This one.”

“This way,” he added softly, nearly drowned out by the sound of Hogan dragging his trunk into place, “you won’t see me.”

Bucky couldn’t figure out if he was supposed to be insulted that Stark didn’t want to be sullied by Bucky’s common gaze, or what.

He fell asleep staring at the ceiling and still wondering.

* * *

The houses were supposed to sit together at breakfast, but many of the students were up early the next morning, having not slept well due to nerves or excitement. Bucky wasn’t sure exactly where he fell on that scale, but he, too, found himself creeping into the Great Hall just past dawn, hoping to find--

Steve. He was sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking animatedly with one of the other new Gryffindors. Bucky was glad to see he was making friends, after so many years of having only Bucky.

And, perhaps, just a little bit jealous that Steve seemed to have moved on so easily.

That faded, however, when Steve looked up and spotted Bucky, his whole face bursting into a sunshine smile. He waved frantically -- as if Bucky could have missed him -- and beckoned Bucky to join them.

“Buck, hey! Sam, this is Bucky, my best friend.”

Bucky gave the newcomer a nod.

“You were robbed,” Steve added, scowling. “You should be in Gryffindor with us! We should talk to one of the professors, see if they can fix it--”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s happening,” Bucky said, patting Steve’s shoulder.

“But you’re stuck in Hufflepuff with _Stark_.”

“He doesn’t look that scary to me,” Sam put in.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “He’s not scary. Just kind of stuck up. But it’s okay, he’s pretty quiet, at least so far.”

Speak of the devil, there was Stark now, hovering just inside the entrance to the hall. He turned slowly, scanning the room. His gaze flickered a little when he spotted Bucky, but then moved on, continuing the sweep. Whatever he’d been looking for, he didn’t look happy or upset. He made his way over to the Hufflepuff table and sat by himself, pulling a thick book out of his bag and opening it on the table in front of him.

“See?” Bucky said. “Harmless. Hey, they’re going to hand out schedules at breakfast, right? Hang a round a little, after, and we’ll see if we line up for any classes.”

More and more students were filtering into the hall, though, so Bucky gave Steve a quick hug and headed back over to the Hufflepuff table. He didn’t know anyone else yet, really, so he sat next to Stark, but left enough space between them for another person. He didn’t want Stark to think he was trying to be friendly.

Stark barely even glanced at him before returning to his book. Ug. Should’ve been in Ravenclaw.

Hogan and Parker showed up eventually and sat across from them, and then enough of the older kids made it to the table that they were forced to budge up a bit.

Stark reluctantly put his book away when the food started appearing, and he didn’t look at Bucky at all, keeping his eyes on his plate even though he only took a piece of toast and half a cup of juice.

Maybe he was used to fancier fare, but Bucky was over the moon about all the choices. He heaped his plate with eggs and beans and bacon, even tried a fussy-looking little crepe that wasn’t half bad. He ate until he thought he was going to burst, and then twisted around to look for Steve and make sure Steve was eating, too.

Maybe with regular meals, Stevie would finally put on some weight and growth.

When the food disappeared again, the professors started handing out schedules. Bucky scanned his anxiously, and was relieved to see that they had double potions with Gryffindor on alternate days. And there were a couple of free-study periods each day; surely some of them would coincide with Steve’s schedule so they could spend some time together.

He was still considering the schedule when a rustling of wings made him look up. There were _dozens_ of owls swooping into the hall, carrying letters and packages.

He looked down again. He wouldn’t be getting a letter, not so early. His folks weren’t as poor as Steve’s, but Ma wouldn’t waste the cost of letter delivery unless it was something really important.

A small package dropped onto the table next to him, in front of Stark.

“Jarvis,” Stark said, his tone far more warm than Bucky had yet heard it. He reached up to ruffle the snowy owl’s feathers affectionately.

The owl -- Jarvis, apparently -- hooted gently and nipped at Stark’s fingers, then stretched its wings to brush its feathers over Stark’s face before launching off the table and wheeling once around Stark before heading away again.

Stark looked at the package for a long moment, then sighed and untied the twine, tearing open the protective wrapping paper. He opened the box a crack and then closed it very quickly.

“I’m going to take this somewhere quiet, where the rest of you won’t be in the way,” he said haughtily, swinging off the bench and stalking toward the door, schedule in one hand and box in the other.

“Doesn’t want to have to share his treats,” guessed one of the older students, looking amused.

But Bucky had caught a glimpse before Stark had slammed the lid closed again. The box wasn’t filled with treats; it had contained a Howler.

Well, Bucky had to admit, he wouldn’t have wanted to open a Howler in the crowded hall, either.

For a moment, he wondered what Stark could have done to make someone angry enough to send a Howler, but then Steve slid onto the bench beside him, eager to compare their schedules, and he forgot.

It turned out that he and Steve both had the same study period every day just after lunch, which was great. Once lunch was over and the students broke up for afternoon classes, they could sit together to work on their homework or talk about their teachers and classmates the way they’d done back home.

Steve was telling Bucky about the Gryffindor common room when someone tugged on Bucky’s sleeve -- Parker. “C’mon, Barnes,” he said, “we’ve got Flying! Don’t want to be late the first day!”

Bucky glanced down at his schedule to check and Parker was right. He said his farewells to Steve and followed Parker and Hogan through the halls, toward the open courtyard where the flying class would be. But as soon as they pushed through the doors, Bucky realized his mistake: The castle was a lot further north than he was used to, and despite the bright sun, it was a chilly fall day.

“I’m just going to run back for a sweater,” he told Parker. “Meet you there!”

He paused for a moment to orient himself, then dashed off toward the dorm.

He barreled through the common room and tore up the stairs toward their room, only to pull up short just outside the door at the sound of a man’s voice.

A very _angry_ man’s voice.

“--pathetic excuse for a wizard! I knew I should have kept you home another year. You are a _Stark!_ I’ll write the Headmaster immediately and demand that you be moved to a house more befitting our name. I can’t believe you failed even _this simple thing! Utterly useless!”_

The voice fell silent, and a heartbeat later, Bucky heard the pop and fizzle of a howler blowing itself up.

“You’ll want to get a move on, dear,” murmured the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff in the hall. “Don’t want to be late for class.”

Class, right.

Bucky took a quick, fortifying breath and opened the door.

Stark was sitting on his bunk, head in his hands, but he looked up sharply as Bucky came in. “What?” he snapped irritably. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the blotchy flush on his cheeks and the way his eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

“Forgot my sweater,” Bucky said, opening his trunk to rummage for it. “Gonna be chilly out there.”

“How much did you hear?”

Bucky glanced over at Stark, trying to gauge whether he should lie, but Stark was looking down at his lap, fidgeting with the sleeve of his robe. “Just the last little bit.”

Stark grunted. “Then you’re probably happy, since I’ll be gone soon.”

That didn’t sit right with Bucky. For all he hadn’t wanted to deal with some spoiled and arrogant Old Family scion, it... hadn’t really occurred to him that maybe not everything was easy, even for rich kids. “D’you... really _want_ to go?”

“I... I don’t want to go to Slytherin,” Stark admitted, his voice small. “And I’m not brave enough for Gryffindor.”

“You’re smart, though, right?” Bucky said, drifting a little closer.

Stark shrugged, just one shoulder. “Yeah. But that’s where Aldrich Killian went. He’s... I thought sure he’d be in Slytherin. He hates me. Even more than you do.”

“I don’t hate you,” Bucky said. Stark didn’t look up, just scoffed. “I don’t. I... We kinda got off on the wrong foot, I think.”

“Everyone does, with me,” Stark said. “It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

That was a horrible thing for a kid to have to be used to. Bucky put out his hand on the same instinctive impulse that had led him to do the same for Steve, half their lives ago. Or maybe not _quite_ the same. But he could feel that the other boy needed him.

Stark looked at it, and then blinked up at him, confused.

“We’re starting over,” Bucky informed him. “James Barnes. But my friends call me Bucky.”

Gingerly, Stark reached up to shake Bucky’s hand. “Tony Stark. It’s good to meet you, Barnes.”

“Bucky,” he corrected.

Stark hesitated. “Are we... Are we friends? Just like that?”

“Why not?” Bucky asked. “I mean, we’re about to be late for our first class and get detention together, probably.”

Stark glanced toward the window and yelped, leaping to his feet and scrambling for his bookbag.

Bucky laughed. “I think I know a shortcut,” he confided. “Come on, Stark, I’ll show you the way. We’ll either be on time, or we’ll have an adventure to make it worth the detention!”

“I’ve never had a detention before,” Stark fretted, but he followed Bucky willingly back out of the dorms and into the halls. “You should call me Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Unafraid of Toil - Chapter 1  
> by @27dragons  
> Card 4027  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29591022  
> Square: S2 - AU: Hogwarts  
> Ship: Winteriron  
> Rating: T  
> Tags/Warnings: AU: Hogwarts, Hogwarts Sorting, Hufflepuff!Bucky, Hufflepuff!Tony, Howard Stark’s A+ Parenting, Crush, Getting Together  
> Summary: Bucky hadn’t realized there would be one of the Old Families in his year at Hogwarts. At least he’s going to be sorted into Gryffindor with Steve and won’t have to deal with the arrogant brat.  
> Wordcount: 2516


	2. Chapter 2

Tony considered the chessboard. Nat had nearly beaten him, their last game, even though she was two years behind him. Not for the first time, he wondered just what they taught at the special primary school she’d attended. He was going to have to put some real thought into the next match if he wanted to defend his champion’s title.

He reached out and then pulled his arm back three separate times, dithering over his defense. He was going to have to sacrifice either the knight or the bishop to lure Nat’s queen out, but he was having trouble seeing far enough ahead to figure out which piece would be more useful to him later. Nat was tricky and prone to surprising moves.

Finally, he selected a pawn and pushed it carefully forward. He lingered for another minute, considering, before sitting back.

“About time,” his king grumbled.

Somewhere in the castle, wherever the Slytherin girls’ dorm was, Nat’s board would be echoing Tony’s move. Tony settled back into the soft chair to await her turn.

The door to the dorm slammed open. “Tony!” Bucky half-yelled. “You have to come, quick!”

“What is it? What’s happened?” Tony scrabbled in his pockets for his wand.

“You know that professor who’s coming to teach that special lecture on curses?” Bucky was practically vibrating.

“He’s here?” Tony shoved his wand back into his pocket and launched out of the chair.

“Hey!” complained his rook. “What about us?”

“Pause game,” he said absently, grabbing for his shoes. “When did he get here?”

“Just now,” Bucky said, grinning. “And you’re never gonna believe _how_.”

“How?”

“Come on!” Bucky grabbed Tony’s wrist and took off, all but towing Tony behind him.

Bucky’s hand felt hot like a brand, or maybe that was just Tony’s ridiculous crush pushing its way to the fore yet again. Living with someone was supposed to make you like them _less_ , Tony thought, from seeing them when they weren’t at their best. Their dirty socks on the floor and the way they snored and the fact that they farted. And Tony was pretty sure that if he’d developed a puppy crush on Happy or Peter, their first year at Hogwarts, that’s exactly what would’ve happened.

But somehow, four years of living with Bucky had only made Tony like the other boy _more_. He’d spent half his breaks writing to Bucky, it seemed, and the other half watching the skies for Jarvis in anticipation of a reply. He looked forward to every meal at Hogwarts, not for the endless bounty and variety of food, but because they’d always sat together, thighs pressed together under the table while they laughed and debated with their housemates over it.

Bucky had never brushed Tony off or tried to put more space between them or suggested that Tony find someone else to study with. And he always came looking for Tony when there was something going on -- a pick-up game of Quidditch or an impromptu picnic or a Hogsmeade weekend. Sometimes, Tony would look up and catch Bucky looking back, and thought, just maybe, Bucky might feel the same. But he hadn’t _said_ anything, either, and Bucky was definitely braver than Tony was, even if he wasn’t in Gryffindor.

“Do you trust me?” Bucky asked, stopping so suddenly that Tony ran right into him.

“What?” Tony had been so fixated on the small point of contact between them that he hadn’t even noticed where they had been going. He looked up and found they were on a deserted stretch of corridor, probably the third or fourth floor. “I mean, yeah, of course, but--”

“This way, then!” Bucky took off down the hall again. He wasn’t looking at any of the doors -- Tony didn’t even know what was behind them, classrooms or storage or practice rooms. Bucky stopped at the end of the hall, in front of a tall window. He glanced at Tony with a bright grin, and unlatched the window, letting it swing open.

Tony’s eyes stretched round. “What--”

“C’mon, I promise, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Bucky sat on the window ledge and swung his legs over.

“Bucky!”

Bucky laughed and held out his hand. “Promise,” he repeated.

Cautiously, Tony put his hand in Bucky’s, let Bucky draw him closer to the window. There was a bit of roof underneath, steeply sloped. Still holding Tony’s hand, Bucky ducked out and stood on the roof, leaning against the angle of it.

“This is insane,” Tony said, but he didn’t resist when Bucky helped him climb out onto the roof as well. “Why are we out here?”

“Gonna be too many people on the ground,” Bucky said. “We’ll get a good view from up here.” He kept tight hold of Tony’s hand and inched his way across the roof, away from the relative safety of the window.

“You spend too much time hanging out with the Gryffindors,” Tony accused, but Bucky’s hand was warm in his as he crabbed along the shingles.

They reached a corner, and Bucky made a satisfied sound as he peered around it. “Perfect. C’mon, quick!” He steadied Tony as they rounded the corner, then pointed at an angle toward the grounds. “Look!”

Tony’s breath caught. “Oh, Merlin,” he breathed.

They were looking out over the stables and the wide paddock beyond them where some of the animals took their exercise. In the center of the paddock was an enormous dragon, scales the bright red of a Pepperup potion. Its horns and claws were the deepest, gleaming black.

“Is it... is it wearing a _saddle?_ ” Tony demanded. It was, though not like anything he’d ever seen on a ground-beast, and there was no halter, no reins. “He _rode_ _that?_ ” 

Bucky grinned excitedly. “Saw him coming in for the landing and ran for you, fast as I could.” He tugged at Tony’s arm, and they both slid down the wall until they were sitting on the roof, side by side, watching as someone -- Professor Borsson, probably -- walked around it, ducking under its broad, silvery-glinting wings and dodging the whipping of its barbed tail with practiced ease.

“Stark colors,” Tony felt obliged to point out, though the red of the Stark family crest was a few shades darker than this beautiful beast, and the black more matte.

“Sure,” Bucky said easily. “Reckon we’ll get a closer look in Creatures?”

“Oh, wouldn’t that be _wonderful?_ It’s so _beautiful_.” Tony couldn’t tear his eyes away from the glorious, deadly creature.

“Ain’t half a pretty as you,” Bucky murmured.

That sent a jolt straight through Tony and he turned his head to see Bucky’s eyes already on him. “What?”

A bright flush was staining Bucky’s cheeks, but he didn’t look away. “I, I really like you, Tony. An’ I think you like me, too. If I’m wrong, you just gotta say, and I’ll--”

“You’re not wrong,” Tony interrupted hastily. “I do, I like you.”

Bucky huffed out a sigh. “Okay, good. That’s, that’s good. I been tryin’ to tell you for ages, now, but seems like I can’t ever get you alone. We’re always hanging out with someone else, or you’re working hard on our homework, or we’re in the room but someone else could walk in any second, or--” He shrugged. “I ain’t brave enough to ask you where someone else could hear.”

_Braver than me_ , Tony thought, feeling his own neck and ears turn warm. “Ask me what?” he prodded, wanting to hear it, to be completely certain.

Bucky flushed darker and he bit his lip. “If you’d, you know, be my fella.”

“I think I’d like that,” Tony said.

“I don’t really know what we’d change, much,” Bucky admitted sheepishly. “Not like there’s much of anything to do around here for dates.”

Tony picked up Bucky’s hand and laced their fingers together carefully. “This is good,” he said.

Bucky looked down at their hands and his thumb stroked over Tony’s, a gentle caress, back and forth, that made Tony’s stomach try to tie itself into knots. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tony breathed. “Yeah, this is just about perfect.”

Down in the paddock, the dragon spat a gout of fire into the sky. Tony didn’t look; as gorgeous as the dragon was, something much brighter and more beautiful was shining in Bucky’s eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Unafraid of Toil - Chapter 2  
> by @27dragons  
> Card 4027  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29591022/chapters/72732396  
> Square: S1 - Dragon  
> Ship: Winteriron  
> Rating: T  
> Tags/Warnings:   
> Summary: --  
> Wordcount: 1387


End file.
